I've been honored to partner with some truly outstanding people and organizations over my thirteen-plus years experience working in startups and digital product. Here's what they have to say.
“It’s almost impossible to find a single person who can think at 10,000 feet and 10 feet off the ground in the same day. I’d highly recommend Ian to anyone trying to drive revenue by connecting their customer to the product in a more meaningful way. ”
—GABE COOPER, CEO OF VIRTUOUS
“Not only did [Ian] ramp quickly on a complicated business and product, but he also provided insightful feedback to product managers and other designers in a variety of areas, he engaged quickly and got early wins on his first project and he identified gaps in our product / design process and culture.
Ian showed his natural leadership skills and empathy in this last area - a very meaningful contribution and one that many freelancers wouldn’t bother to champion. And this was all done from afar as he freelanced from the Bay Area with trips to Seattle once a month.
His design work product is of the highest quality, his natural curiosity and customer empathy help guide his thinking and his objectivity ensure minimal bias in what he produces.
Ian is the perfect blend of craftsman, collaborator, cultural leader and great communicator. He would be a huge asset and welcome addition to any team - I’d definitely hire him again... my only criticism of Ian is he rejected our offer to move to Seattle and join Remitly... but you can’t really fault him for that - it does rain up here :-)"
-KARIM MEGHJI, CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER, REMITLY
"Ian brings a unique blend of product insight, sensibility, and practicality to the table of every project we’ve collaborated on, of which there have been many. In our work together he has frequently impressed me with his ability to quickly grasp the big picture of a project’s goals, articulate the product vision, and from there separate the signal from the noise and extrapolate actionable steps for himself and the entirety of the team. In doing so, he’s established himself in my professional view as not just as a top product specialist, but as a first class leader as well.
Beyond his impressively structured product thinking, which in my estimation he has down to as close of a science as one can have, Ian is an absolute pleasure to work with. He brings a smile and joyful presence to every occasion, and elevates the energy of every team and project he’s been a part of in any capacity. In every regard he is an absolute asset to have on any team and project, and I consider myself lucky to have been able to work with and learn from him to the degree that I have."
-ARIEL DESCHAPELL, HEAD OF ENGINEERING, LINCOLN NETWORK
“Remitly is a fast paced, growing startup and as any startup, requires team members to wear a number of hats within a given domain at any given time. Ian not only accepted this challenge but also reset the bar…
In short, Ian is fantastic! He has been a true asset to Remitly. With a strong bias for action, ownership, creative yet data driven attitude, Ian relentlessly lead the charge in building experiences our customers love.
From initial requirements gathering, usability studies, wire framing, taking lead in the design phase, to executing with developers, Ian’s decisions are informed and validated with best practices and user testing.
One project that I worked closely with Ian on is understanding customer friction with one of our cohorts of customers in Latin America. Our objective was simple; reduce customer friction by building Remitly customer trust.
To do so, Ian first distilled a large amount of complex and ambiguous information to inform his design decisions. He then took a data driven design approach by developing hypothesis, conducting user studies, and developing A/B tests. Finally he successfully collaborated with product managers and engineers to execute his vision, ultimately building a frictionless and trustworthy customer experience which increased active rates, reduced customer acquisition costs and increased long time customer value.”
-NICK MOISEFF, VP OF PRODUCT, REMITLY
“We needed someone who could take our initial ideas, iterate and quickly deliver a solid product design. Ian was the perfect person, and his work has really allowed our company to take a big step forward!”
-WILLIAM NORVELL, former COO and co-founder of an early stage startup I helped in 2017. He's now a Venture Partner at Sovereign's Capital and Investor at AMDG Capital